all day help
Nov 30, 2016 16:47:31 GMT -5
Post by brachysira on Nov 30, 2016 16:47:31 GMT -5
Well, you could predict this was coming. Kids no longer nap at all. My son won't stay in bed at all, and the only way we've been able to put him to bed at night is to spend an hour next to him shoving him back in every night. I don't have it in me to do it during the day. I told them we're having quiet time and sent them to different rooms today and that worked for about 20 minutes, which is better than it has been.
Preschool is out at 11:20. So I have to fill 11:20-7:30. That's 8 hours of stuff at home if we can't play outside. It's hard to have playdates during that time because most kids nap or our older friends do preschool until 3:30. Then a lot of people I know want to cook dinner and eat as a family shortly after 5. But DH isn't home until 6:30 and he's tired, so we do dinner and TV from 6:30-7:30, which means that I only have about an hour of screen time left that I can do during the other 7 hours I have to fill if I stick to a 2 hour limit. Plus in the mornings I have one kid each day are we sometimes are home during that block too, although usually we do a library storytime or similar.
Today we did stamps, using different utensils to add different fluids to a tub of baking soda, winter-theme bath (over an hour of fun there), and free play (which today involved kids using things in the bathroom to make clothes which is a big mess). Plus a lot of TV. I am finding I don't have time to eat, clean, make appointments, etc. Kids can help clean but it's draining especially with 2. Since they're used to resting more, they aren't exactly cool either so I can't just send them to play in the basement unsupervised or play board games or something that requires high functioning children.
Should I enroll DD in afternoon preschool? Get a baby-sitter every day? Travel the state visiting different museums?
Preschool is out at 11:20. So I have to fill 11:20-7:30. That's 8 hours of stuff at home if we can't play outside. It's hard to have playdates during that time because most kids nap or our older friends do preschool until 3:30. Then a lot of people I know want to cook dinner and eat as a family shortly after 5. But DH isn't home until 6:30 and he's tired, so we do dinner and TV from 6:30-7:30, which means that I only have about an hour of screen time left that I can do during the other 7 hours I have to fill if I stick to a 2 hour limit. Plus in the mornings I have one kid each day are we sometimes are home during that block too, although usually we do a library storytime or similar.
Today we did stamps, using different utensils to add different fluids to a tub of baking soda, winter-theme bath (over an hour of fun there), and free play (which today involved kids using things in the bathroom to make clothes which is a big mess). Plus a lot of TV. I am finding I don't have time to eat, clean, make appointments, etc. Kids can help clean but it's draining especially with 2. Since they're used to resting more, they aren't exactly cool either so I can't just send them to play in the basement unsupervised or play board games or something that requires high functioning children.
Should I enroll DD in afternoon preschool? Get a baby-sitter every day? Travel the state visiting different museums?
